I just updated my utility belt. Well, metaphorically speaking – every self-respecting geek has one. Lately I've been trying to minimize what I carry around even further. After having children I've come to appreciate the value of less stuff in my life. So here's my everyday carry in 2013:...

The whole PageRank conundrum reminds me of the parable in Gödel Escher Bach about the phonograph that breaks when you play a specific well designed record. GEB was referring to incompleteness but it's an equally good metaphor for computer security and quality-algorithms like PageRank.
If there's sufficient motivation to find your algorithm's weak points and exploit them, it's going to happen. Complicated algorithms just require more complicated and better designed inputs.

Let's look at where stackoverflow.com traffic came from for the year of 2010. When 88.2% of all traffic for your website comes from a single source, criticizing that single source feels … risky. And perhaps a bit churlish, like looking a gift horse in the mouth, or saying something derogato...